SpaceX Adds $100B in One Day—That’s More Than Two Rocket Labs

SpaceX (NASDAQ:SPCX) gained about $100 billion in market value Wednesday. Two and a half times the market cap of Rocket Lab Corp. (NASDAQ:RKLB), which gained in a single session.

The rocket and satellite company closed at $150.88 per share, up 5.15% from Tuesday’s $143.49 finish, lifting its market capitalization to roughly $2 trillion.

Rocket Lab, the closest thing the sector has to a pure-play public rival, carries a market cap of about $38.1 billion. One day of SpaceX tape swallowed more than two of them. 

• SPCX stock is moving. See the real-time price action here.

What Moved the Stock

Two catalysts sit behind the bid. SpaceX is targeting Sept. 22 for Starship Flight 14, the vehicle’s first fully orbital attempt and the first mission meant to deploy third-generation Starlink satellites at a cadence Falcon 9 cannot match.

Success would validate the economics underpinning a $2 trillion valuation, while failure would do the opposite. 

Passive demand is the second leg. Elon Musk‘s SpaceX entered the Nasdaq-100 on July 7, less than a month after its debut, one of the fastest inclusions ever under Nasdaq’s revised fast-entry rules, and J.P. Morgan estimated the addition could pull in $4.3 billion of passive flows. Index weight updates keep forcing benchmarked funds to buy.

Volatility Is the Baseline Here

Nothing about a $100 billion day is unusual for SpaceX. Shares priced at $135, jumped 19% on their June 12 debut to a market value near $2.1 trillion, and vaulted past Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) within days as newly listed options fueled a trading frenzy. 

Then came the giveback, when more than $1 trillion in market value was shed through early August. The 52-week range runs from $104.83 to $225.64, per Benzinga Pro market data. 

Supply remains the overhang traders watch. Lockup restrictions lifting through Dec. 8 will raise the tradable float to 40% of the company, with the remaining 60%, including Musk’s stake, locked until mid-2027. 

SPCX Price Action

SPCX Stock Price Activity: SpaceX stock was up 1.98% at $153.87 at the time of publication Thursday, according to market data from Benzinga Pro.

Photo: Shutterstock